The copending parent application Ser. No. 11/524,976, includes embodiments which pertain to thermally broken sunshade anchors that mount sunshades to building curtain walls, embodiments which pertain to sunshades, and other embodiments as well. Embodiments of the present invention also pertain to sunshades, including sunshades of the parent application and other sunshades. In embodiments of the present invention, sunshades can be mounted to building curtain walls using the thermally broken sunshade anchors of the parent application. Embodiments of the present invention are not limited to use with building certain walls and can be used with other building framing systems and other structural supports. The present invention also pertains to methods related to sunshades, including methods of installing sunshades.
Sunshades are often used on the outside of commercial architectural projects or buildings to shade large expanses of glass from sunlight. The sunshades are attached to the exteriors of the buildings and extend outward away from the buildings. The sunshades have louvers which reduce the amount of sunlight that reaches the buildings. The sunshades can mitigate possible solar heat gain to the inside of the buildings from solar light passing through the glass. The energy efficiency and performance of buildings is a concern, due to, for example, rising energy costs and environmental concerns associated with non-renewable energy sources. Architects are specifying products like sunshades to improve the overall energy efficiency and performance of the buildings they design. In many cases, architects are designing curtain wall systems where sunshades are directly integrated into the structural members of the curtain wall (known as mullions).
Many commercial sunshades that currently attach to curtain walls are made of discrete components that are pre-assembled in a controlled environment (such as a contractor's workshop) through the use of screw spline joinery methods. The pre-assembled sunshades are delivered to a construction site where they are installed onto the curtain wall structure. The process of installing a plurality of sunshades in a sunshade array is usually conducted sequentially where a first pre-assembled sunshade unit is attached to two mullions and then a second pre-assembled sunshade unit is attached to one of the same two mullions plus a third mullion and so on. An attachment device, known as an anchor clip, is usually pre-located on each mullion to receive the pre-assembled sunshade unit. Typically the pre-assembled sunshade has extension components, known as outriggers, which are attached to the anchor clips to mount the sunshade unit to the curtain wall structure. The outriggers are typically made of steel plate or aluminum plate. Often, some material is used to function as a “spacer” between each sunshade unit at the anchor clip in order to facilitate tightening the pair of outriggers to the anchor clip. In many cases the curtain wall component that attaches to the mullion designed to retain the glass, known as the pressure plate, must be machined in order to mount these sunshade components. All of this is fairly common in the art of attaching sunshades to curtain wall structures.
Sunshades and techniques for attaching sunshades directly to curtain wall structures have problems and can be improved and simplified.
For example, existing sunshade outriggers are made of plate material which can cause problems or difficulties. When outriggers made of plate material are joined by fasteners to louver blades and/or fascia elements to construct the basic sunshade unit, the fasteners are exposed. Also, when sunshades with plate type outriggers are attached onto a channel type anchor clip, a spacer must be placed between the pairs of outriggers of adjacent sunshades to facilitate fastening the sunshade units to the anchor clip. The spacer can be difficult to handle and maintain in proper position during installation.
Each pair of adjacent sunshades are typically aligned with each other at the conclusion of the installation process for each pair of adjacent sunshades. The alignment is usually accomplished by making visual adjustments to the alignment while tightening the bolts that fasten the outriggers to the anchor clip. Plate style outriggers tend to easily slip or slide relative to each other which makes the alignment process difficult. Also, the sunshades may slip relative to each other over time and become misaligned.
The end sunshade may be “capped off” with a blank outrigger to conceal the fasteners of the last sunshade unit and to create a consistent look across the sunshade array. Although the last blank outrigger is attached to the anchor clip in the same manner as the outriggers of the sunshades, the last blank outrigger can act like a “sail” and undesirably move in the wind if not mechanically fastened at its free end to the adjacent outrigger.
Sunshades or sunshade components can be anodized to provide a desired color. However, outriggers made from aluminum plate have a different aluminum alloy than the other sunshade components, such as extruded aluminum louvers and fascia. Anodized aluminum plate outriggers can not be anodized to match the other anodized extruded aluminum components. However, embodiments of the present invention can include various sunshade components all made from extruded aluminum alloy which can be anodized to have a consistent visual appearance. The present invention is not limited to anodized finishing and can be practiced with any other suitable finish, for example paint and mill finish. Also, the present invention can be practiced using materials other than extruded aluminum.
Existing installation of sunshade assemblies can also have difficulties and problems and can be improved. Multiple sunshades are typically installed in a sequential order in which each sunshade assembly is hoisted and then attached to the anchor clips. With most sunshades, the bolts that hold the sunshade assemblies in place can only be partially engaged until the adjacent sunshade is also positioned in the anchor clips. At that time the bolts can be fully engaged at the adjacent sides of the last two sunshades and only partially engaged at the other end of the last sunshade assembly. As the next sunshade is positioned, the partially engaged bolts can then be fully engaged and the bolts at the opposite side only partially engaged. This process continues until the entire sunshade array is installed. Partially engaging various bolts during the sunshade installation process can be cumbersome and safety may be a concern during installation of the sunshades.
Pressure plates are required to attach sunshades to certain curtain wall structures, such as outside-glazed curtain walls, which is the most common type of curtain wall. The pressure plate is typically custom machined to accommodate the attachment of the anchor clip. It is important that machined holes or notches in the pressure plate be located in the exact position along the pressure plate prior to installation in order to properly align the sunshade array. Often times the pressure plates are in excess of twenty feet long and may be used across two stories of the building, and thus, used for two arrays of sunshades. If machining of the pressure plate is slightly incorrect, installation will be significantly compromised and the part must be scrapped.
Therefore, improvements can be made to sunshades and related methods, including methods of installing sunshades.
Accordingly, needs exist to improve sunshades and related methods, including methods of installing sunshades, for the reasons mentioned above and for other reasons.